Twilight
by Kauchin
Summary: The story of .HackSign. Re-written


CHaPTeR oNe- RoLe PLaY  
  
"How come I must know,"  
  
[Author's Note: i WRoTe THiS aFTeR WaTCHiNG THe .Hack//Sign DVDs HuNDReDS oF TiMeS So i KNoW THe eNTiRe SToRY BY HeaRT. EaCH oF MY CHaPTeRS iS NaMeD aFTeR THe ePiSoDe THaT iT iS WRiTTeN aBouT iN THiS FaN FiCTioN. BuT iN MY SToRY i'M RePLaCing MiMiRu WiTH MY oWN CHaRaCTeR, MiTSuKi aND CHaNGiNG THe SToRY BeHiND HeR. LooK aT THe BeGiNNiNG aND eND oF eaCH oF MY CHaPTeRS aND You WiLL See a PHRaSe. iF You PuT THe oNeS aT THe BeGiNNiNG ToGeTHeR You GeT THe BeGiNNiNG TheMe SoNG oF .HaCK//SiGN. aND iF You PuT ToGeTHeR THe oNeS aT THe eND You GeT THe eNDiNG THeMe SoNG...]  
  
Tsucasa got up weakly and looked around. He sat up on his haunches and looked around. Then he felt a sticky feeling between his fingers. He looked down at his hand and saw strange pinkish goo that was stuck to him. He pushed him self up to standing position on his staff and though to himself, 'What was it?' He looked around. 'That treasure chest... I've opened it before... but then what happened?' He continued. 'I don't remember...' Then he heard walking footsteps behind him. "Oh, I didn't know I had company. Hi my name's Mitsuki what's yours?" she asked him. Tsucasa swung around and raised his staff to shoulder height. Behind him was a young woman with a lean looking body, bright sky blue eyes, and silvery hair that was being held back with a blue clip. She had on a set of armor with a short skirt, elbow armor, and blue gloves and shoulder armor that reminded him of the ones Balmung of the Azure Sky was supposed to wear. She had large white wings as well. He guessed she used those for aerial attacks. He saw that she was a female heavy blade but he didn't want to deal with her right now. "Is something wrong? Are you ok?" she walked forward, backing him into the chest. "Whoa," she was looking at his staff, "I hardly ever see a Wavemaster working alone. You must be really powerful." She commented. Tsucasa had heard enough. He used a Sprite Oakarina to exit the dungeon that he was in. "Well that's a fine way to say hello. Oh well, at least he left the treasure chest." She then pointed her sword at the chest.  
'Wha- what was I doing?' Tsucasa wondered as he sat next to a well in the field that he had warped to. Then the windmill nearby began to turn and he looked up to see three of the crimson knights walking towards him. [AN: iNCaSe You DiDN'T KNoW oNe oF THeSe aRe iMPoRTaNT To ouR SToRY aNd He iS The SiLVeR KNiGHT...] Tsucasa stood up and raised his staff as if in defense. The Silver Knight raised his sword above his head as to say that they do not want to fight.  
"We are not here to fight. Greeting we are the thirteenth squadron of the Crimson Knights. I'm sure you've heard of us." Silver Knight said.  
"We Crimson Knights honor courage, stability and tolerance. We were formed to look after "The World" and ensure it's smooth operation." One of the other knights said. [AN: if aNYoNe KNoWS THiS KNiGHT'S NaMe THeN PLeaSe CoNTaCT Me aS SooN aS PoSSiBLe.]  
"We are constantly keeping watch on any illegal activities inside "The World".  
"Then I'm of no interest to you." Tsucasa said defiantly.  
"You're wrong. We are interested in all that come to "The World". Just a few days ago you were seen with a mock cat player. Am I correct?" Silver Knight said bringing his sword down from above his head.  
"A cat?" Tsucasa echoed. He though about it a moment and saw Macha [AN: YeS THiS iS HoW MaCHa iS SPeLLeD... I WaTCHeD iT iN JaPaNeSe WiTH SuB TiTLeS. So No FLaMeS PLeaSe...] in his mind. "Who is tha..."  
"Someone saw you in the presence of this player." One of the knights said.  
"That character was obviously edited illegally." The other said.  
"We cannot ignore this fact. However, we do not intend to cause you any trouble." The Silver Knight paused. Tsucasa looked at the knights while still wondering about the cat player.  
"Is this character male or female? We need more information. Where can we find that player? We won't inconvenience you any further. I promise you that." The without warning Tsucasa used another Sprite Oakarina to run from them. The knights all raised their swords in defense then...  
"He ran..."  
"We may need to monitor him." Silver Knight said. Tsucasa appeared in front of the logout gate [AN: CoRReCT Me iF I aM WRoNG BuT THaT iS WHaT He aPPeaReD iN FRoNT oF iN THe FiRST ePiSoDe?] Then suddenly, causing Tsucasa to jump, Mitsuki appeared next to him.  
"So tell me do you always do that?" She asked him a few minutes later while they were sitting on a set of stairs. He stayed quiet. "Are you even listening to me? Ugh, the silent treatment again. You know I happened to see something earlier. You disappeared in front of the Crimson Knights." She finished.  
"You're a pest." He said watching the bug that was climbing up his staff. He blocked it with his foot and it fluttered it wings viciously. [AN: THiS BuG SeeMS To FoLLoW HiM eVeRYWHeRE DuRiNG THiS SeRieS... aLTHouGH He MuST HaVe FouND a NeW oNe BeCaUsE iN THe FiRST ePiSoDe He SQuaSHeS iT...]  
"Sorry... what was that? I don't like what you're doing and I don't think it's smart." Mitsuki said looking down at him.  
"Who cares? It doesn't really matter once I logout of here." He replied smartly. Still blocking the bug as he said this. [AN: I THiNK THaT He SHouLD JuST NaMe The BuG You See iT So MuCH...]  
"Wha.. NOOO... that's not what I mean." She said. Then he suddenly opened his eyes.  
"Hmmmm..."  
"HUH? What is it?"  
"Uh... it's just to difficult to explain. Sorry."  
"If you keep pulling stunts like that they aren't going to let you back in any more. What exactly are you going do if you run into that guys again." She asked following him with her eyes as he walked off.  
"That might... be fun." He retorted softly. "We'll see about that. Besides, if I don't want to get involved I just won't access for a while."  
"THAT IS NOT THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED!!!!" She yelled after him. "HEY WAIT IS THAT REALLY FAIR!?!?!"  
"As I understand it each person in "The World" has their own way of playing the game right?" He then walked forward towards the logout gate and raised his staff to logout. But he was blocked from logging out. He was about to try again when he noticed her standing behind him and watching. He then turned to her.  
"You know... I just don't like you." He said just before warping again to somewhere else.  
"Wha... WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!" Mitsuki said after he left. This was useless of course because he couldn't hear her. [AN: iN MY VeRSioN oF THe SToRY MiTSuKi iS ReLaTeD To BaLMuNG aND oRCa MaKiNG THeM ReLaTeD, WHiCH THeY aRe iN THe aCTuaL SHoW, BuT NoW THeY HaVe a SiSTeR. TSuCaSa JuST DoeSN'T KNoW THaT YeT.] "Hmmmmm..." Mitsuki turned away from where he had just disappeared from. "I think I'll check into him." She said as she warped to the Chaos Gate to transfer to a different server and trying to avoid people at the same time. ~~~~ You KNoW I THiNK THaT We'LL CoME BaCK To TSuCaSa LaTeR. RiGHT NoW LeT'S FoLLoW MiTSuKi... HoW aBouT iT? ~~~~  
Mitsuki walked into the hall of the great castle that was said not to exist and was only used in legends told about her and her brothers.  
"Balmung? Can you help me for a second?" she called up to where her brother was sitting.  
"Sure, what now?" he asked as he jumped down from his perch to join her. She loved her brothers very much but sometimes they were just too much. Which was true because they were brothers and sister in the real world too. Her brother's titles are Balmung of the Azure Sky and Orca of the Azure Sea. Her title is Mitsuki of the Azure Horizon. So she seems to be in the middle of them. Lady Subaru had been in contact with her earlier about some unknown thing. But being the youngest she didn't pay much attention. She was 14 in the real world and her oldest brother, Orca, was 16 with their other brother, Balmung being in the middle at 15. Because she was the youngest, at first they protected her but in the end she became famous for being their sister and because she was able to defeat monsters that were supposed unbeatable as well as being able to get through dungeons with out a party.  
"Well today I met a young man but he might not have been playing that long because he didn't know who I was. Plus I saw him run away from the Crimson Knights earlier. And further more when he tried to logout he was blocked." She said quickly. Orca, hearing the conversation walked into the room.  
"What's all the commotion about?" He asked as he walked over to them. He listened to her story then nodded.  
"Yeah, I heard about that too. Oh and Lady Subaru said that you've been ignoring her warnings and have been wandering between servers again. Is it true that you've been in Carmina Gatalica for the past few days?" Orca asked her seriously.  
"Well... uh..." She looked into his glaring blue eyes defiantly. "N...no." Her wings shook slightly as she spoke. He shook his head.  
"Mitsuki you don't lie to me. I know when you're lying because you flutter you're wings and you stutter." Orca said. "Why do you feel the need to lie to me?" he asked her in a soft voice.  
"I...I don't know. I'm afraid that you'll..." she put her hand up to her cheek as if she had been smacked.  
"No. No. Mitsuki I would never do what Dad did. I'm not him." Orca said to his little sister. Balmung just stood there for a second then finally spoke.  
"Orca I think that she's still afraid that he'll come back. Or that because you look like our father you might act like him too." Balmung said to his brother. Then he turned to Mitsuki. "Mitsuki, Orca and I would never do any thing like that to you." He said as he pulled her into his arms. "Shhhhh... it's ok Sis you can cry all you want." He said as she cried into his armor.  
"Now what is it that you would like us to do about this Tsucasa boy?" Orca said as she turned to face him again, her face still wet with tears. He picked up a bit of his cape and wiped her eyes off with it.  
"Nothing but I think that Subaru and the others should know." She replied.  
"Right I'll email her right now. No better yet, why don't I just go there and talk to her." Balmung said and warped away. Mitsuki turned away from her brother and also warped away.  
  
~~~~ BaCK To TSuCaSa ~~~~  
Tsucasa looked around him and not seeing anyone he tosses a silver dagger into a small sparkling pond. A large blue blob that looks somewhat like a water droplet appeared in front of him.  
"Hey did something just fall in here? Did you drop this golden axe? Well did you? Or maybe it was the silver axe." The blob said. Tsucasa gave it a goofy smile then whacked at it with his staff.  
"Oh NO! Oh NO!" It said as it dodged his blows then disappeared into the water again. Tsucasa heard laughter and turned around. To a well built man who was sitting on a rock watching him with his hands resting on the hilt of his sword. Which was stuck in the ground between his legs.  
"You having fun?" He asked. Tsucasa turned around and once again held his staff up as if in defense.  
"Greetings, I'm Bear, you know I like to do that too whenever I'm feeling down. I can lend you a hand if you need any help. I'm always supporting newbies here. And..." But as Bear said 'and' Tsucasa warped to another part of "The World". ~~~~ LeTS ViSiT MiTSuKi aGaiN ~~~~  
Balmung waited for a moment outside of his sister's room, where she would stay for hours at a time. What she did in there he didn't know and he doubted he would ever find out.  
"Mitsuki? Are you in there?" He called through the door. She didn't answer. "Mitsuki? Mitsuki!?" He turned the door handle and opened the door. He looked around the room for any sign of his sister. But all he saw was a note which read:  
  
Balmung and Orca,  
I'm leaving for a while and will not be in contact with you for a while. And don't try to look for me because I have changed my look. Please I just need some time to myself. Orca don't send the Knights after me because I know you. That will be the first thought on your mind. I am Mitsuki of the Azure Horizon. A legend in this world. I will be fine on my own. Balmung... don't worry. Please don't. As I have said many times I'll be fine. I am going to look for the Wavemaster called Tsucasa. I will be gone for a while. No I think I'll correct myself, you MAY send the Crimson Knights after me if you wish but you will not find me.  
  
Mitsuki of The Azure Horizon  
  
"ORCA?!?!!?" Balmung called as soon as he had read the note. He ran down the stairs and jumped off the banister as Orca came rushing into the room.  
"What? What's wrong Balmung?" He asked out of breath. Then he saw the look on his brother's face. "Tell me!" he said in a stern voice. Balmung handed him the note with a worried look in his eyes.  
"Lord Orca are you sure that is what she said?" Subaru asked him earlier the next day. She was standing on her boat in Macanu the City of Water. [AN: DaMN She iS LiKe aLWaYS oN THaT STuPiD BoaT!!! GeT oFF THe BoaT aLReaDY!!!] He nodded as if to justify what he had said to her. "Oh my." ~~~~ BaCK To TSuCaSa ~~~~ "The other day, I had a chance to speak to Lord Orca, he is also concerned about the recent situation." Subaru said quietly to the Silver Knight. "Although he already has enough on his mind with Mitsuki missing."  
"Yes, the increased number of users in "The World" has caused a noticeable decline in morality." He commented. Subaru swung around.  
"That's not precisely it. It is something on which he would not reveal any specific details yet," She paused, "He also said that he would work with Lord Balmung and their sister Lady Mitsuki to investigate the situation they see. As well as look to see if their sister might be somewhere investigating that." She continued.  
"Orca of the Azure Sea, Balmung of the Azure Sky, and Mitsuki of the Azure Horizon if those three are working together there's nothing for us to worry about." Silver Knight said as she walked down to get off the boat.  
"On the contrary, I'm even more concerned now. If it is grave enough for them to take action." She looked over and saw Tsucasa sitting on the wall of the canal. Silver Knights eyes lit up in warning. [AN: He CouLD uSe THoSe aS LiKe FLaSHLiGHTS iF NeeD Be. i MeaN THeY GLoW!] Tsucasa saw them too and got up, running off into the distance.  
"Tis not easy to act in the name of justice." Silver Knight said as he stood up, looking after Tsucasa. Subaru looked up at him in questioning. Now we are taken back to the logout gate with Tsucasa and he is about to meet Mitsuki again but instead she looks a bit different and she is going by a different name, Tari.  
"Tari" appeared suddenly in front of Tsucasa. (She was wearing this time exactly what Mimiru wears just blue and she has wings.) he turned away and began to walk in the other direction.  
"Neeaaaaaaa..." He heard her say as she stuck her tongue out at him. He turned around and smiled.  
"Hey can I ask you something?" He asked her still keeping his back to her.  
"Yeah sure... but there's no guarantee that I'll answer you though." She said sarcastically raising her arms above her head.  
"Oh?"  
"Well?" she said impatiently.  
"It's just that uh... I wanted to know... are you able to... you know... exit "The World"?"  
"HUH? I...I don't understand what you're trying ask me..."  
"What I mean is...logout."  
"Of course, after the last time I saw you I logged out. Then I logged back in a few minutes ago."  
"I see...is that right." He said and walked off, stepping onto the grass.  
"Uh...hello? Explanation please?" Tari said and followed him. After he told her his story she thought a moment. "You mean to tell me... that you can't logout?"  
"Looks that way."  
"I have never heard of something like that. Maybe it was something you did. Did you... did you do something to anger the Crimson Knights?"  
"What do you mean... like cheating or something?"  
"Mmm hmmm...I guess." She nodded. The bug came again and Tsucasa bopped it away with his staff.  
"I can't remember...there's no way! I haven't. I don't remember. You don't have to believe me but I really... I really can't remember. I can't remember at all." Tsucasa said.  
"I see...hmmm...well I guess in the worse case you could logout by just resetting your terminal." She said cheerily.  
"How...strange...this can't be..." he scrambled to his knees and tried to run off but Tari caught him by his collar and threw him back to where he was.  
"HEY! WAIT! Calm down." He popped back up to his feet again.  
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Tari looked stunned.  
"WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?" She questioned, her wing unfurled in anger.  
"Can't... can't you just...leave me alone?" he asked sorrowfully.  
"LEAVE YOU ALONE?!?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!!! YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLY SELFISH!!! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONE TO SAY THIS BUT THE NET IS THE SAME AS THE REAL WORLD!!! THERE ARE CERTAIN RULES YOU HAVE TO OBSERVE WHEN DEALING WITH PEOPLE!!! AND YOU WON'T BE TREATED WITH ANY RESPECT IF YOU DON'T GET SOME MANNERS!!!" She thundered. He fell back away from her at her sudden outburst.  
"Yeah I know that but I would like it if ...if you would just leave me alone from now on...Okay?"  
"SO just leave you alone?" She smiled. He nodded in agreement. "Alright. Oh I wanted to tell you... remember you said you didn't like me before? Didn't you?" she asked.  
"Well yeah."  
"Good because I HATE YOUR GUTS!!!"  
"Well good then...so we agree...so you'll really leave me alone then will you? And I'll just ignore you. And we'll just go our separate ways." He looked up just as she brought her hand up to smack him. There was a loud crack as her hand collided with the side of his face. She looked at him a moment with a curious look in her eyes. Then as she saw tears well up in his eyes she took a hard look on her face.  
"LATER!" she called to him as she walked off. ~~~~  
oFF To ViSiT MiTSuKi aGaiN ~~~~  
Balmung heard the door slam shut to the castle and though it must be Orca. Then he heard slamming footsteps on the stairs as who ever it was ran up the stairs. Then another door slam. 'MITSUKI!' He ran up the stairs after her.  
He heard sobbing coming from her room. As he listened to her he could hear things like: Orcas' going to kill me for running off like that, I don't like hurting other players, Balmungs' going to be pissed too, Oh Orca will spaz when he sees me. Then he knocked on the door. He heard a frightened gasp and he open the door. Mitsuki was sitting up on her bed in the room, her face telling the whole story.  
"Mitsuki I...I was worried...that...that something had.. you know... happened to you." He said then walked over and sat down on the bed next to her. "Hush now... tell me what's wrong?" he asked as he cradled his little sister in his arms. "Mitsuki tell me. I won't do anything." He said again in a soothing voice. He pulled his legs onto the bed and pulled her into his lap still cradling her into his chest.  
"I don't like hu-hurting o-other p-people." She stuttered through her sobs. He looked down at her with a soft look in his eyes. He could feel her tears falling softly onto his arm as she cried. 'Wait! I can feel?' Buried his face into her hair and drew in a deep breath. He smelt the sweet smell of sweet pea... her shampoo. 'and smell?'  
"Mitsuki. Can you smell right now?" he asked her. He heard her take in a deep breath.  
"Uhhhhh... Balmung what happens if I say yes?" Just then they heard the door slam again. Balmung pulled his face from her hair and looked up as his brother walked in. Balmung's wing was partially blocking Mitsuki from view as she continued to sob.  
"Balmung what are you hiding now?" Orca asked as he walked around to the other side of the bed. He saw Mitsuki and sat down next to her where she sat in Balmung's lap. "Mitsuki. Thank the goddesses that you're alright." But then his face suddenly hardened. "No. Everything is not alright. I just tried to logout but for some odd reason I was not allowed to logout. We can move away from the terminal but we are not able to logout." He said with a worried look. "I'm afraid that we are trapped here." He saw the look on his younger brother's face and softened his own look. He stroked Mitsuki's hair and then lifted her face up from their brother's chest.  
"Mitsuki...I am... very sorry for getting upset with you the other day. Please forgive me hun." He laid his forehead against hers and listened to her tears fall onto Balmung's lap. Time seemed to freeze as he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her into his chest and held her there. "Mitsuki I promise that no matter what happens I will make sure that you return safely to your body in the real world. But for now please promise to stay close to either me or Balmung." Orca said. His voice lost in the awe of the moment.  
"I promise." He squeezed her to him and tears welled up in his own eyes. Balmung hung on to the moment too and wrapped his arms around their sister.  
"We promise to protect you." They said in unison. ~~~~ BaCK To ViSiT TSuCaSa ~~~~ Tsucasa was walking down into the same dungeon where we first met him. He has a flashback of earlier. When Mitsuki had told him that he could logoff by resetting his terminal. He continued to walk then he realized something.  
'I...I'm not in front of a terminal so there's no terminal I can reset.' He continues to walk down into the field where he was before.  
'Where am I?' he asked himself. 'This treasure chest. I've opened it before. But...after I opened it...What was it?'  
"Macha." He said as the cat appeared. Macha floated down on top of the box, rubbed her face against it and then disappeared.  
"HEY! WAIT!" Tsucasa called after her. "What should I do?" He saw her paw like hand reach out to him but then she disappeared completely. "Should I open this?" He tapped it with his staff. It opens to reveal the Tablet of Twilight. [AN: YeS THaT iS WHaT iT iS CaLLeD iN THe JaPaNeSe VeRSioN.] And Morganna speaks to him. She says that as long as they walk together she will protect him. [AN: She SaYS THiS To HiM aBouT 3 BiLLioN TiMeS THRouGH ouT THe eNTiRe SeRieS.] Then the Tablet disappears. Then Tsucasa turns and walks back up the stairs to leave but as he reaches the top of the stairs he notices Silver Knight standing at the entrance to the dungeon. Tsucasa pulls out his Sprite Oakarina to warp.  
"It's useless. I've set up a barrier... Your Sprite Oakarina is useless here." [AN: SiLVeR KNiGHT DoeS THiS ReaLLY CooL THiNG iN THe SeRieS BuT i DoN'T KNoW HoW To DeSCRiBe iT.] Silver Knight tried to attack Tsucasa only to be blocked by Tsucasa's staff.  
"Why do you run?" He asked.  
"Because I think it's fun." Tsucasa replied.  
"Is that the only reason?"  
"You're not satisfied?"  
"If you tell me what I want to know about the cat player character and I'll let your antics slide."  
"I have nothing to tell you."  
"Oh you'll talk. I'll use my sword...if I must."  
"Do as you wish then." Tsucasa replied smartly. Silver Knight used a quick movement to slash across Tsucasa's staff and propel him backwards into the wall. Then a strange barbell looking monster appeared and blocked the Knight's next attack.  
"What...what is this monster?" ~~~~ BaCK To MiTSuKi ~~~~ Mitsuki was standing on the edge of one of the towers of the castle. She closed her eyes and opened her arms and wings to catch the wind. Then suddenly her eyes snapped open and she dove into what seem like endless horizon. Her brother Balmung watched from where he was as she dove. But this time he noticed something different about her stance of dive.  
"Mitsuki! OPEN YOUR WINGS RIGHT NOW!!!" He yelled. She acted as though she didn't hear him as she picked up even more speed like a human bullet. Her wings were folded flat to her body as she dove. Then he realized what she had realized as well, if she opened her wings they would be ripped off her body and since they could feel pain... "HOLD ON I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!!!!!!" He said as he dove out of his own window. He opened his own wings to their full length. Orca heard their yells and walked outside. Looking up curiously he saw his sister rocketing toward him. Orca dove out of the way as she plowed into the ground right where he was about 5 seconds before. She came back up again laughing and covered in dirt.  
"Mitsuki!" Balmung called from where he was floating with his wings spread wide.  
  
'Searching for eternity'  
  
eND oF CHaPTeR oNe 


End file.
